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Aluminium p-type polysilicon contacts display a rectifying behaviour which exhibits an aging towards reduced Schottky barrier heights and increased n-values or ideality factors. The time scale for this aging process increases dramatically with the thickness of the aluminium layer in the range 100–1000 Å, and the overall behaviour is in accordance with the model of Ponpon and Siffert for transport of oxygen through the aluminium film to the polysilicon surface.

An experimental study has been made of metal-silicon solar cells, with thin Ag, Au, Cu, Fe and In electrodes. No intentional interfacial layers were introduced and the silicon surfaces were chemically prepared in such a way as to minimise the residual oxide layer. The characteristics of the devices were taken at various illumination levels and the effect of barrier height, series resistance and n-value on the open-circuit voltage and the fill factor were studied. Comparison between theoretical predictions and the experimental results show that Voc/Jsc measurements that provide the n-values appropriate for the expression for the open-circuit voltage also provide a reliable method for experimental barrier-height determination under illumination and that the above ‘true’ n-value should also be used in fill-factor calculations.